2007年1月9日，在舊金山的莫斯康展覽中心（Moscone Center），史蒂夫·喬布斯登上了展臺，改變了世界。

這位已故的蘋果共同創始人在當天發布了iPhone手機，距離如今正好十年。在Macworld 2007大會的主辦地莫斯康展覽中心，喬布斯展示了一款在早期的大部分時候只支持AT&T無線網絡（當時還叫Cingular）的手機。這款iPhone擁有觸摸屏，拋棄了物理鍵盤，搭載了一款由蘋果設計、也只支持蘋果產品的新移動系統——這款系統與當時流行的競爭對手的產品截然不同。

盡管世人正式認識iPhone是在喬布斯掌權期間，但蘋果早在2004年就開始研發這個代號為Project Purple的項目。三年中，蘋果建立了超過1,000人的團隊，負責iPhone研發的方方面面，而喬布斯參與了每一步。他評估了不同版本的設計，包括一種類似iPod的版本（帶滾輪的等等），否定了所有不合標準的方案。他還評估了軟件，也就是我們如今所知的iOS，確保它與眾不同、充滿吸引力，從而給人們留下深刻印象。

喬布斯在發布iPhone時說，這是一款革命性的手機。他說得沒錯。不過在當時的市場環境中，iPhone的特質不是唯一的。當時，智能手機市場正開始向觸屏設備轉型，一些產品已經提供了iPhone所具有的部分（但還差距甚遠）觸屏功能。

不過蘋果的iPhone是第一款把這項特色做好的產品。它擁有多點觸控功能，可以觀看電影及其他內容的大屏幕，還能幫助用戶安排自己的生活，另外重要的一點是，它還很耐用。iPhone是第一款真正理解用戶需求的設備——甚至是在用戶知道自己有相關需求之前。

史蒂夫·喬布斯推出這款手機的那一刻起，新的時代就拉開了序幕。全球的競爭對手都因為iPhone而行動起來，他們推出了類似的產品，企圖超越蘋果。地位穩固的競爭對手如Palm和BlackBerry，很快就被厭倦他們沿街叫賣的老式手機，想要更好的新產品的消費者所遺忘。

簡而言之，智能手機市場——實際上，可以說是整個移動產品市場——分為兩個時代：前iPhone時代和后iPhone時代。

毫無疑問，蘋果是最大的受益者。憑借這一款產品，公司建立了全新的業務分部，十年來收獲了巨額的資金。沒有iPhone，蘋果就不會是我們現在所知的蘋果。

不過，iPhone最重要的時代意義，可能在于它給用戶帶來的影響。十年前發布的iPhone對消費者的生活產生了巨大的影響。盡管蘋果1月時就推出了它，但消費者真正拿到這款產品是在6月。我們如今生活在移動先行的世界里，手邊就放著iPhone（或安卓產品），隨時準備應對著當日的挑戰。計算機以及偶爾坐在我們面前的人成為了次要的。智能手機——觸屏、應用商店以及一切——現在是最重要的。這都是拜史蒂夫·喬布斯和蘋果所賜。（財富中文網）

作者：Don Reisinger

譯者：嚴匡正

When Steve Jobs took the stage at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on Jan. 9, 2007, he changed the world.

On that day, exactly 10 years ago, the late Apple co-founder unveiled the iPhone. At the Moscone Center, home to the Macworld 2007 convention, Jobs showcased a handset that would be available exclusively on AT&T's (t) wireless network (then known as Cingular) for much of its early life. The iPhone had a touchscreen, ditched the physical keyboard, and delivered a new mobile operating system designed solely by Apple and for Apple—an OS that was unlike anything popular competitors at the time were offering.

While the world learned officially of the iPhone during that Jobs keynote, Apple had been working on the project since 2004 under the codename Project Purple. Over the three-year period, Apple (aapl) amassed a team of more than 1,000 people to work on different facets of the iPhone's development, and Jobs was there every step of the way. He evaluated different versions of the gadget, including one that looked like an iPod (scroll wheel and all) and nixed everything that wasn't up to snuff. He also evaluated the software, which would morph into the iOS we know now, to ensure it was something different and appealing that could impress the world.

Jobs said when he unveiled the iPhone that the handset would be revolutionary. And he was right. But in the context of the broader marketplace, it wasn't alone. At the time, the smartphone market was moving toward touchscreen devices and there were some handsets already on the market that delivered some (but not nearly all) of the touch features offered by the iPhone.

But Apple's iPhone was the first device to get it right. It offered multitouch, a big-screen display to watch movies and other content, the ability to organize the user's life, and just as important, was a solid phone. Apple's iPhone was the first device that actually understood what users needed—perhaps even before users even knew they needed it.

Once Steve Jobs unveiled his company's handset, a new era began. Competitors around the world mobilized to respond to Apple's iPhone, delivered clones, and tried to one-up the company. Entrenched competitors like Palm and BlackBerry would soon be forgotten by the onslaught of customers who wanted the next best thing and not the old wares they were peddling.

Simply put, the smartphone market—and indeed, the broader mobile market—has two ages: the pre-iPhone era and the post-iPhone era.

Apple, of course, has proven to be the biggest beneficiary of that. With a single release, the company created an entirely new business segment that has generated massive sums of cash for a decade. Without the iPhone, Apple wouldn't be the Apple we know it as today.

But it's the historical significance the iPhone has had on users that is arguably most important. Consumer lives changed dramatically when the iPhone was released 10 years ago—although introduced in January, it actually reached customers in June. We now live in a mobile-first world, iPhones (or Android devices) at our side, ready to take on the day's challenges. Computers—and, at times, the person sitting in front of us—have become secondary. The smartphone—touchscreen, App Store, and all—is what matters most now. And we have Steve Jobs and Apple to thank for that.